New Samus Cosplay International Champion Crowned

Who's winning the Metroid cosplay wars? The Swedes looked to have had it locked down, thanks to Samus cosplayer Jenni Källberg. But Brazil has fired a shot across Sweden's bow, one named Thaís.

26-year-old Thaís Jussim is the one responsible for the beautifully crafted Samus Aran space suit seen above, one the Brazilian Metroid Prime fan assembled over the course of six months. The beast of a bounty hunter suit is lit by 73 battery powered LEDs and set Jussim back US$350 in material costs.

Jussim, who created the suit with the help of friends and family, says the suit weighs about 23 pounds and is surprisingly not very comfortable. Who would have guessed. Jussim also reveals that there's, uh... Zero Suit Samus cosplay in the works, by the way. It's her next project.

*ahem* Anyway, if you'd like to see more shots of the costume and learn more about the woman behind the visor, read on. (Oh, and sorry for the lateness on this one. You'd be amazed how little time I spend on cosplay web sites.)